Excavation equipment with excavation buckets for digging and grading have been known for many years. The buckets themselves have been developed and refined over the years to increase the digging efficiency of such devices.
The backhoe bucket has been developed to have generally triangular side plates connected together with an arcuate bottom plate. The leading edge of the bucket is defined by the leading edge of the arcuated bottom plate located at the entrance into the bucket, and may be provided with a plurality of teeth to improved digging action. The rear of the bucket is provided with mounting plates having holes for mounting onto the arm of a backhoe.
In this conventional configuration, the arcuate bottom plate is a continuous plate extending from the front of the bucket to the rear of the bucket. In use, the bucket is rotated by the backhoe arm while being forced into the material being handled. Thus, the arcuate bottom plate slides relative to the material and provides little resistance.
When digging trenches with a conventional backhoe bucket, the backhoe bucket is particularly effective for digging the trench quickly. However, the conventional backhoe bucket becomes difficult to operate when working near building foundations, or when carefully removing small layers of earth covering, for example, existing electrical cables, water mains, or other utilities, increasing the possibility of damaging such utilities when uncovering.
Further, when laying pipe or other conduit, the final grading of the trench must be carefully and precisely made to ensure proper slope and foundation for the pipe or conduit. This type of operation is difficult to perform with the conventional backhoe bucket.